Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year. Stores are decked in pink, radios are playing love songs, and PDA is everywhere. Many people love Valentine’s Day. I mean, what’s not to love? Giving and receiving stuffed animals and chocolates for a gift while telling someone how special they are is just plain fun. Unless of course you don’t like Valentine’s; you’re sick of love songs and you just want it to be the 15th so you can buy chocolate half-off. I think that we’ve all felt a little bit of both at some points in our lives. We always hear that V-Day is for the ladies, but what do the gentlemen think? I asked some of my favorite guys to find out.
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“It’s a money-making scam.”
1. I think we all expected this one, and it’s probably true. According to the National Retail Federation, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $18.6 billion this year. That’s an insane amount of revenue for restaurants, card companies, flower sales, and chocolate sales, just to name a few. Marketing ploys love to use Valentine’s Day as soon as February rolls around, because everyone’s a sucker for love.
2. “It’s a day for romantic gestures, big and small.” 2. Guys like to be romantic too! These are the guys that go out of their way to do something special for their significant other. Sometimes it’s a fancy dinner at the best restaurant in town, sometimes it’s just a night in watching movies and cuddling. No matter what they do, they’ll make sure you know how special you are.
3. “Celebrate all kinds of love.” Going back to Greek culture, there are several kinds of love. Storge is love felt amongst family. Philia is love in a friendship. Eros is romantic and passionate love. Agape is unconditional love. We tend to only think of Eros, but what of the other three? Some guys think we should have a day that celebrates all kinds of love, not just romantic love.
No matter what you think of Valentine’s Day, I think we can all agree that we should spread the love a little more. So go out there and tell someone you love them, and have a great Valentine’s Day!